Medical profile information storage apparatus and methods are known which retain information pertinent to emergency care should the need arise. Such information includes name, address, persons to contact, allergies, medications, and other medical conditions and alerts which may be helpful to emergency personnel, bystanders, and others in providing appropriate care. Several prior art systems and methods are known which are typically employed to store such medical profile information. An xe2x80x9cemergency contactxe2x80x9d sheet is often kept on file by an employer, school, or other institution affiliated with an individual. xe2x80x9cMedic alertxe2x80x9d bracelets are often worn to indicate particular medical conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease, by having a message printed thereon. Active transmission devices allow a victim to send a signal or voice message to a remote receiving station from which assistance can be dispatched.
Typical prior art apparatus and methods, however, may not be adequate to provide timely, accurate, and sufficient information in a medical emergency. An information sheet kept on file may not be readily accessible if the victim is off site, and is prone to staleness. A bracelet may not be seen by a care provider, and is limited in the amount of information that can be printed thereon. A user must be coherent to activate a transmission device, and these devices may be forgotten by a user altogether and therefore not within the user""s control.
It would be beneficial, therefore, to provide a system which can be stored or worn in close proximity to a user, which can store a message having a sufficient quantity of information about a victim, to allow the message to be readily recalled by assisting personnel even if the user is passive, to maintain the message throughout prolonged periods of non-use, and which can be easily updated as pertinent information changes.
An annunciator device operable to record and store a message can be disposed in close proximity to a user for playback of the message if the user becomes incapacitated or otherwise unable to respond. The annunciator device includes an actuator or button to initiate recording or playback of the message. A mode selector switch determines whether recording or playback will occur. Once recorded, the message is stored in a memory and can be broadcast to others by triggering the actuator to initiate playback. The stored message can contain information such as name, address, medical conditions, persons to contact, and other information which may assist emergency personnel, bystanders, and others in providing appropriate care and attention should the user become incapacitated or unable to respond.